Snippets From The Borderlands
by TheYellowLantern
Summary: "Hah! You want to hear more stories, eh? I suppose there are little things we didn't touch on. Those small moments that we missed in-between the shooting and the looting and the screaming? Well then...do I have some snippets for you..." Warning: Expect adult imagery. Violence and sex are very likely themes to be used in the future.


All she could see was the stars of the distant planets, the little flickers of light behind the moon of Elpis, and the giant space station that casted its shadow on the big rock. Her ears were filled with the rising, splashing and flowing of lava. It was hot. Very hot. Sweat collected on the surface of her skin, evaporating away into what little water was in the air already. This is all she had known for several hours now...and several hours was already way too long. But what she felt on the outside paled entirely to how she felt within. The overwhelming feelings of sorrow and anger was in her heart, and the desire for revenge was all that filled her head. When she watched her one love in life collapse to the floor in a bloody pool, the image was ingrained in her brain. The slight smirk of that dead, lifeless mask...

It was what drove her at this very moment.

Lilith tilted her head down, looking over herself. She was suspended high in the air, her arms stretched out and her Siren wings extended fully. Her body was irradiating a bright purple energy, an energy that she was very familiar with. Eridium. Eridium was being forced through her, beamed into her from a device in the ground far below her. She deeply breathed and grunted, barely managing to withstand the amount of power she was absorbing. It was mercilessly pumping her body with the stuff, working her like she was a cog in a machine. In this machine, she was the catalyst. She saw the pieces of the alien relic that span around her. Four pieces. She remembered the tale behind each...she remembered the amount of people she shot and incinerated years ago to obtain all four. Sledge, Krom, a damn Rakk Hive...

Her mind managed to escape in the memories for a moment. Lilith remembered the good times she had when she first arrived on Pandora. Seeing Mordecai fret over which sniper rifle he wanted to keep, Brick making Spiderants twice his size explode with a single punch, or Roland when he-

Her memories just stopped. Lilith tightly screwed her eyes. The moment of weakness was so alien to her, but her eyeballs clearly knew how to cry. Trying to relish in the past to escape the pain she felt now, only made that pain far worse.

"Roland...baby..." She whispered to herself, shaking her head slowly.

Lilith couldn't soak herself in misery forever, however. Below her, she could see a figure forming at the Hyperion fast travel console which was keeping her in this position in the first place. All her instinct told her exactly who it was before the shape had even fully formed. She may have noticed the few skipped heartbeats if her mind wasn't filled with intense hatred.

Far beneath her feet, she could see that same dead, lifeless mask looking up at her.

"Hey, you're doing a pretty good job, Lilith!" He called up to her enthusiastically. "Let's give you a little break, shall we? I got some things I wanna tell ya."

He tapped a few buttons on the console, and Lilith suddenly felt a shift in gravity. She slowly and almost gracefully descended inches above the ground, the Eridium flowing through her system slowed to the point she didn't irradiate the stuff, her wings retracting and dissipating. She was still restrained by seemingly nothing, and that made it so hard when she had to look face-to-face with the monster that killed her love. She silently glared at him, the pace of her breathing going up just by looking at him, her expression filled with fire.

The Hyperion tycoon himself came to visit her...and it wouldn't have been to give her something as courteous as a break.

"Ah, Lilith...I hope you aren't getting worked too hard. I do want you to survive this once you're all done charging the key, after all."

His seemingly friendly greeting was an obvious play. Lilith simply continued to stare at him with those burning yellow eyes. The most powerful Siren on Pandora, and yet she was utterly helpless. A damsel. Jack clearly thought it was amusing.

"What, you're pissed at me?" Jack said, almost surprised as he placed his hands on chest.

"I will KILL YOU when I'm free!" Lilith threatened him loudly and desperately, her tattoos and eyes glowing...but ultimately nothing happening. "When the others get here, I will-"

"When your bandit buddies get here, that key will already be charged, courtesy of you." Jack calmly told her. "You'll get to watch The Warrior tear them apart. And after them? Allll the others will follow suit."

Jack gave her a cold stare. His eyes looked so unnatural with that blank mask.

"Oh...this is because of Roland, right? Ah, I'm sorry I killed your man. But remember...the score hasn't been settled yet. You Vault Hunters destroyed my Eye Of Helios, my life's work. You killed my top man. You killed my girlfriend. Worst of all, you killed my daughter. The way I see it? You've got more debt to pay."

The two shared a cold stare. But it was difficult for Lilith to keep her composure when such an addictive substance like Eridium was being shoved into her system. Her body would twitch, and she would grunt in pain. It made her feel weak...which was an irony.

"Man, am I excited for what I've got in store once that Warrior awakens..." Jack went on. "But for now? I've got a few ideas to pass the time. Gotta say, I've dreamed of having this chat."

He reached out, and gripped Lilith's jaw in her hands. She struggled and fought him helplessly, but was nevertheless forced to look at him. His calculating eyes studied her.

"You were always hot." He noted, without a spec of emotion. "You are super hot, Lilith...I'll give you that. You wanna know who else was super hot? Me. Until I was scarred...my face mangled."

His hand threw her face away. Lilith clenched her hands and clamped her teeth together, but it was a pointless show of anger.

"So...it's only fair I return the favour, right? I mean, hah, that's pure justice if you ask me. My perfect face is never gonna be the same...so why should yours?" He chuckled, excited to exact his petty little revenge. "Of course I don't have mystical powers...but I'll get by with what I got."

Lilith could see out of the corner of her eye, Jack brandish a sharp little blade in his hand. An intimidating cutting tool.

"It won't be as clean...and it won't be near as quick...but it'll be great."

Lilith felt her face get gripped again, she was forced to look at Jack as he tapped her cheek with the blade. Pondering what he wanted to do. He was clearly so thrilled. Her eyes will shamefully filled with fear.

"Ohh when I'm done, you're gonna look soooo screwed up!" Jack told her, eagerly. "Like that serial killer on the Dream On Bark Road movie...you know? Y-you ever see that movie? Ah, never mind! Let's start..."

Lilith was silent but clearly distressed as Jack angled the blade against her soft cheek. She breathed heavily, her eye looking at the edge resting against her skin. Jack looked with intense focus, wanting to make this perfect like he was painting a piece for a museum...

And then he slashed. Lilith yelled as she swiped the blade across her face. He let go of her immediately and watched Lilith hang her head...blood dripping from her. He was taking in the sight. This was only the beginning. One cut wasn't near enough. But he could take his time...savour the moment.

"Ah-ah! First blood!" He told her, smirking. "There's a lot more adjustments we gotta make. By the time I'm done, not even the scummiest, lowliest bandit will wanna piece of you."

Jack's smirk began to dissipate however when he saw the blood dripping from her face suddenly cease, the few drops resting on the warm ground. He raised an eyebrow. He was sure he cut her deep, enough to make her bleed good. Confused, he held her red hair and yanked her head up to look at him. What he saw was truly fascinating. Lilith's pained face had nothing but a mere red mark stretching across it, before even that disappeared. She looked good as new, as if Jack had done nothing to her.

"Huh..."

Lilith wasn't so much a canvas for him to make art with, now. Now, she was an experiment to feed his curiosity. Jack rested the blade against her cheek, and made a slow cut across it. Lilith winced and screwed her eyes shut as he played with her. To Jack's amazement, the wound existed for about two seconds before it fully healed.

"Now isn't that interesting."

Jack cupped his chin in his hand as he gave a thoughtful look. His eyes trailed down to look at the device that was beaming Eridium energy into Lilith from the ground. He recollected Eridium being a source to enhance a Siren's powers, as was the case for Angel and Lilith.

"Hmm. Seems I can't scar or permanently damage you while you're being fed all that Eridium..." Jack noted, fascinated.

Lilith knew Eridium could boost her powers to ridiculous degrees, but a healing factor was new to her. It actually gave her some relief, knowing that for as long as she was imprisoned like this, Jack couldn't permanently hurt her.

"How sad for you." She said, giving a mocking smile before her head hung again, her body continuing to struggle with handling all the Eridium passing through her. "I guess...you better free me, and try again."

Jack simply ignored her. He continued giving a studying look, his fingers wiping across the smooth flat sides of his little blade. Lilith slowly raised her head to look at him, clearly not so intimidated. Jack didn't like that.

"Well? You going to-"

Lilith was suddenly interrupted when she lost the words in her throat. A croak was all that came out as her vision blurred, her muscles gave up and her eyes became unfocused. Everything suddenly felt ill. When her head tilted down, she saw the small blade imbedded in her stomach. Blood was leaking out, soaking her red top. Lilith felt the life draining out of her, her body giving up. She almost wanted it to take her.

But alas...it didn't. Soon enough, the Eridium kicked in and she felt alive. Her body quickly recovered from the shock and trauma of being stabbed. Jack was taking in everything. He yanked his blade out of her, Lilith grunting loudly and blood spurting out the wound...only for it to quickly close and heal. Lilith was looking down at herself as it happened, it amazed even her to see her wound close itself and the blood loss stop.

"Tell me what hurts more, Lilith..." Jack began, angling the weapon once again. "A..."

He stabbed her again. Quick motion, in and out.

"Or B..."

Once again, the blade was in her. In another spot. But instead of yanking it out, Jack played with the wound. His wrist turned, as did his knife. Lilith's face quickly grew into a shocked expression as the pain spiked, and only began to ramp up. The more angles the blade twisted inside her, the louder she screamed. It was torture. In it's purest form.

"AaaaAAAARGGGGHH!" Lilith jerked her head up and her muscles tensed. "AGH! UUUGH!"

The metal inside her didn't cease its toying. Her eyes could see Jack's amusement past his mask, in gaping her wound she screamed so loudly and so much that she ran out of breath and was reduced to breathless croaks. But when the climax of her yells were reached, Jack finally removed his blade. Though her injury quickly healed, the hairs on her skin remained standing, the beating in her chest was racing. She could barely lower her head as she took in gulps of air

"Ow. That looked like it really hurt." He continued to drone on, and Lilith wanted nothing more than to silence him.

Lilith was allowed a brief moment to recover. But only because Jack really wanted her to hear what he had to say.

"It's hurts...but I bet it didn't hurt as much as watching Roland collapse face-first, huh?"

She heard it crystal clear. But she didn't acknowledge it. Didn't want to. She kept looking up in the air, breathing heavily. But Jack knew very well that she could hear him.

"But hey, we all have different opinions on stuff. Me? I thought it was hilarious. Like something out of a movie...just PPRRSH! Right on the floor, not a word."

Though Jack couldn't see it, Lilith was being tormented with every word he directed at Roland. Her eyes sharpened. Her face became pained, and not because of the twisting in her insides.

"Hey!" He grabbed her face again and looked into her eyes. "It's polite to look at who you're talking to."

Lilith twisted her neck, disgusted by his touch. But his hold was firm and rough. Jack didn't just want to see her blood spill...he wanted to see her very being break in her eyes.

"Tell me how much you loved him, Lilith." He lowered his voice to a sinister creep, the real Jack coming through all that charm and charisma. "I swear I won't tell anyone. It can our little secret, ey?"

"Let go-!" She demanded, wriggling her head to no avail. Jack manhandled her face with two hands, shaking her violently before keeping her still as a statue, getting a look into her fiery yellow eyes...a layer of water surfacing them. That's what he wanted to see.

"Was he a good man, Lilith?" His smile turned into a devilish show of teeth as he kept his hold on her strong. "The one you were waiting for, maybe? A keeper, as they say?"

Lilith closed her eyes. Jack was taking advice from the regular Psycho and adding salt to the wound. He kept ramming the thought of Roland in her head, fuelling the tears behind her eyes and the trembling in her lips when she thought of him. Thought of her first kiss on the bus all those years ago, the firmness of his chest when she squeezed him, his flustered face when she came on too strong...all gone.

"Tell me!"

Another violent shake later, and Lilith stared at him. Utter hopelessness filled her eyes.

"I loved him." She whispered, her breathing a bit stuttered.

The image was so pleasing to Jack. He had to take in the sight with pure relish, seeing his hated enemy broken before him. To think this was just a prelude...he had so many other plans for her once he scorched Pandora with fire. A messed-up, creepy stumped nugget would be a good finish before he finally killed her. Slowly. Painfully. When he finally had enough, his hands let go. Lilith's head hinged on her neck, her tears falling to the floor just as her blood did. It was a silent cry. She made a great effort not to whimper.

"Aww, that's so adorable." Jack chuckled, poking the tip of his blade gently with his finger as he turned away from her. "Don't worry, Lilith. You'll be with him soon enough. It'll be a long, painful journey to get around sending you to hell to him. But I'll get you there."

For a little while, the sounds of erupting volcanoes and Crystaliks stomping was all that filled the atmosphere. But during that time, Lilith sucked up her pain. She wasn't going to let that moment of weakness be the image Jack left with.

"I'll never get to hold him again..." She began, quietly. "Thanks to you, I'll never again get to feel the touch of his chest. Or what it's like to kiss him."

Lilith sucked in her tears and swallowed. Her head raised to look at Jack as he turned his head to watch her from the corner of his eyes. On her face, all he could see was a stern stare...a flame in her eyes. A life that he thought he had just extinguished.

"You've taken so much from us. From me, from Brick, from Mordecai." She spoke up, her posture becoming more firm, her neck standing taller on her shoulders. "From so many people on Pandora...all because you wanted to be some kind of God."

Jack raised an eyebrow, and agitated look appearing on his face as he swivelled himself around to face her.

"I'm not ashamed to cry for Roland...because I LOVED him. That's more that can be said for you when Angel died...who was there to be remorseful for her, huh?"

Jack took a step towards her, an annoyed expression appearing even behind that mask.

"Not even her own father!" Lilith yelled. "She was just your servant, your tool! She wanted us to kill her because she wasn't even alive to begin with!"

"SHUT UP!" Jack screamed as he grabbed Lilith's shoulders and shook her. "YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT ANGEL!"

Jack was breathing quite heavily when he stopped shaking her. And all Lilith had to give him in response after a hard stare, was a spit in the face. Specifically to his eye. Jack stepped back, grunting as he wiped his hand across his face. In return, he delivered a backhand to Lilith's face. The Siren's head felt the harsh impact, but she didn't even give so much a grunt. All she had for him now was the fire in her eyes.

Jack approached her with his knife out once again, ready to go to town on her, but he was interrupted by his ECHO communicator going off.

"Handsome Jack, sir. The Vault Hunters have blown up the bridge towards the Hyperion Complex. We can't stop them!"

Jack looked so tempted to proceed stabbing the hell out of Lilith...but he resisted the urge. He gave Lilith a cold look, before swiftly turning and storming off towards the console.

"We'll continue this talk later, girly." He said, clearly making an effort to disguise his anger. "AFTER I watched The Warrior roast your friends alive."

Lilith felt the device that held her shift as Jack teleported away. She began to levitate off the ground again, the Eridium passing through her becoming very intense once again. Lilith groaned loudly as the power swelled in her, before she yelled out as her limbs stretched out and her wings exploded from her back. The alien vault key span around her, siphoning the energy from her. The unpleasant process began all over again...but despite all that, she couldn't help but feel pleased that she just had Jack leaving feeling pissed off. A sour taste left in his ugly mouth.

"We're gonna beat him, baby." Lilith thought, her eyes once again taking in the stars above. "We'll do it for you."

Lilith had seen the whole galaxy throughout her life. But it was Roland that gave her a place in that vast world. In her heart, she could feel that Jack's time was ticking...the last few grains of sand in the hourglass was falling. This conflict was finally about to come to an end. She had seen its birth...now she would see its end.

It would all be over soon.


End file.
